Most helpful positive review

The Last of Us is a game worth experiencing. And it's got a lot of collectibles and a lot of hidden goodies to explore within every area. It's a rather nice change of pace in gaming. So naturally, when you think of collectibles you probably also think that it would be nice to have a strategy guide to help you out in those situations. The Last of Us Official Strategy guide is here to help. It's a good guide overall and actually provides a lot of information about the game. I do suggest, however, that the strategy guide be used on a second playthrough, and we'll talk about why shortly.

The guide begins, as so many do, with a lot of the game basics. There's actually reason for any newcomer to The Last of Us to spend time here. While the game is more than willing to explain everything about it in easy tutorials, the guide is willing to explain the basics of everything and go a little further. The Last of Us is a huge game and one that, at some point, really banks on you knowing what you're doing to get through. The fact that all the basic survival and combat stuff is willing to be more than just a "how to," guide all the time is rather nice. Bradygames has always had a problem about talking about the difficulty settings, but with this guide you won't mind as much. The authors note that the guide is written with the assumption that you are playing on Hard Mode (usually Bradygames writes their walkthroughs with the assumption you're playing on Normal). The guide does talk about the basics of weapons here, but it doesn't quite give any suggestions of how to upgrade them in anyway. It probably doesn't have to, but at least you know that all the basics of The Last of Us is covered in surprising detail.

The enemies chapter is also pretty useful as it talks about the enemies in good detail as well. There isn't much to say, but it does note certain things about them, such as how they attack and what you can expect from an attack. Which is probably much more useful than specifically telling you how to go about it (though the guide is quick to point out this as well). You will learn about your foes. The walkthrough also calls out the new enemies as they appear. But having this section is still going to be useful.

Once we get to the walkthrough this is where the guide becomes truly useful in so many different ways. Each section begins by showing you the chapter itself. Beyond that there is always a chart that tells you what collectibles can be found in the chapter and what supplies you can find as well. It also mentions the enemies you'll encounter within that chapter. The maps showcased in each chapter as you arrive at new areas are invaluable. They are incredibly detailed, pointing out every item in the area and being more than just wireframe maps. A lot of guides fail to put a lot of detail into their maps, but here the maps are so well done that you won't find yourself disoriented if you walk away because they always make sure you know what scenery is around you and the like. Players who hope to explore and pick up every last item in an area will probably find that the maps alone will suffice in helping you navigate through much of the game without actually reading much of the walkthrough.

The walkthrough also points out any time you meet new characters. It's got some good organization and a great layout in many respects. They always point out collectibles as you meander through the world at hand. Often times not just putting it in the main text of the walkthrough but actually having callouts. They also highlight any new tutorials, enemies and items that pop up at any given time. It's a really in depth walkthrough that helps get you through the game. It's also complete with tons of screenshots to illustrate a lot of things. It's unusual to see a Bradygames guide this well organized. There is a lot of text, though, so you may spend a lot of time reading some parts rather than being engrossed in the game.

The guide isn't without it's faults. For instance, while I like that Bradygames played through hard mode, I still feel that for those who want to tackle higher difficulty settings the guide simply won't help them. Survivor is a totally different beast from the other difficulty settings and Bradygames does nothing to really help the player prepare. As is standard: They mention how you do less damage and how enemies do more... but there are some really important things they're missing out on by not having some kind of addendum for Survivor. There are fewer items. Meaning that items shown on the map might not necessarily be there on Survivor. Since the maps correspond to Hard Mode this means that when playing survivor it's pointing out items that may not be there. Likewise, this also means that there are MORE items in an area on Normal and Easy that the maps aren't pointing out either. It's a good walkthrough and has some good strategies and maps, but Bradygames still isn't willing to go that extra mile that could help a player master the game as opposed to just learning as much of it as they can.

All this amounts to a great strategy guide in the long run. Anyone playing on Hard difficulty or lower will find a lot of use in its maps. For those playing on Survivor (and if you are you probably know the game anyway) there isn't much the guide will do to help you prepare for that.

There is one other problem with the walkthrough. The information is sound. The strategies are awesome, the guidance is good and those maps are probably the most valuable resource the guide has. However, the walkthrough is very forward and direct that it WILL spoil major plot points. It doesn't just detail what to do in an area, but also what will happen to you after you've done it. This means for those hoping to avoid spoilers the guide has plenty of them and they won't be highlighted as spoilers. The Last of Us is quite an engrossing game. The story is really good and many a gamer probably shouldn't have it spoiled for them. The walkthrough leaves no stone unturned, this includes any twists in the story and plot. Don't take this to mean the guide isn't good. It's a very good guide. One that will help you uncover everything The Last of Us has to offer, it's just not shy about telling you what's going to happen. As such I recommend it for a second playthrough. It will help you find everything and for those who want to find everything it's going to do just that. But the guide is also going to make sure you KNOW everything about the story as well. If you're the type who doesn't like spoilers, save the guide for a second playthrough.

However, even if you only wanted the guide to find all the collectibles, the guide did make sure to include a separate chapter in case you didn't want to go searching through the walkthrough. It's very well organized and shows you everything without giving away anything to the plot. For those who also want to know, there is also a Tags and Trophy guide in the event that you just want to know those things as well, complete with strategies and commentary. Meaning that even with spoilers, those who want to find everything can still do so without fear of the experience being ruined. The guide is good for a quick reference as well as those looking for more in depth descriptions.

The guide also has a huge section dedicated to talking about the various factions you'll see as well. It provides much of the same info as the walkthrough itself. It treats Factions as though it is a separate game, going over the basics all over again. But everything that's great about the walkthrough is still really good here.

For those wondering, there's not much difference in picking up the Limited Edition Guide or the Standard Edition. The Content in both guides is exactly the same. Both guides are the same length. There are only two distinct differences. The Limited Edition guide comes with a Firefly Keychain and is in hardcover. That's the only difference. Three's no "extra content," in the Limited Edition Guide. And you won't find anything in the Limited Edition guide that you won't find in the standard. It just has a hardcover and keychain.

The Last of Us is a pretty amazing game on its own, so it's nice to see that it also has a relatively amazing strategy guide to go with it. It leaves no stone unturned and often provides all the information you need to go through any one area. For those hoping to find everything The Last of Us has to offer, this is a good strategy guide to help you out.

Most helpful critical review

3There Are Other Ways To Get What This Guide Offers, But What's Here Is Cool Enough

ByStorm Pegasus "Less Than Nothing"on November 25, 2013

This guide's pretty bare-bones, and it lacks advanced strategies for many tough sections beyond "there are enemies here, take 'em out", but it shows you where all the collectibles are, and that's mainly why I bought it, so it does it's job. Once you have the collectibles, though, the guide's useless, as it fails to go into advanced strategies for the single-player game. I should also mention that it doesn't identify which sections are forced combat "monster-closet" sort of areas, and which can be bypassed with stealth. A glaring omission, in my opinion.

I didn't bother with the multiplayer section of the game or the guide, so I can't comment on the accuracy/quality of that section of the guide.

Unless you have extra money to spend, you're better off with GameFAQs or YouTube.

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The Last of Us is a game worth experiencing. And it's got a lot of collectibles and a lot of hidden goodies to explore within every area. It's a rather nice change of pace in gaming. So naturally, when you think of collectibles you probably also think that it would be nice to have a strategy guide to help you out in those situations. The Last of Us Official Strategy guide is here to help. It's a good guide overall and actually provides a lot of information about the game. I do suggest, however, that the strategy guide be used on a second playthrough, and we'll talk about why shortly.

The guide begins, as so many do, with a lot of the game basics. There's actually reason for any newcomer to The Last of Us to spend time here. While the game is more than willing to explain everything about it in easy tutorials, the guide is willing to explain the basics of everything and go a little further. The Last of Us is a huge game and one that, at some point, really banks on you knowing what you're doing to get through. The fact that all the basic survival and combat stuff is willing to be more than just a "how to," guide all the time is rather nice. Bradygames has always had a problem about talking about the difficulty settings, but with this guide you won't mind as much. The authors note that the guide is written with the assumption that you are playing on Hard Mode (usually Bradygames writes their walkthroughs with the assumption you're playing on Normal). The guide does talk about the basics of weapons here, but it doesn't quite give any suggestions of how to upgrade them in anyway. It probably doesn't have to, but at least you know that all the basics of The Last of Us is covered in surprising detail.

The enemies chapter is also pretty useful as it talks about the enemies in good detail as well. There isn't much to say, but it does note certain things about them, such as how they attack and what you can expect from an attack. Which is probably much more useful than specifically telling you how to go about it (though the guide is quick to point out this as well). You will learn about your foes. The walkthrough also calls out the new enemies as they appear. But having this section is still going to be useful.

Once we get to the walkthrough this is where the guide becomes truly useful in so many different ways. Each section begins by showing you the chapter itself. Beyond that there is always a chart that tells you what collectibles can be found in the chapter and what supplies you can find as well. It also mentions the enemies you'll encounter within that chapter. The maps showcased in each chapter as you arrive at new areas are invaluable. They are incredibly detailed, pointing out every item in the area and being more than just wireframe maps. A lot of guides fail to put a lot of detail into their maps, but here the maps are so well done that you won't find yourself disoriented if you walk away because they always make sure you know what scenery is around you and the like. Players who hope to explore and pick up every last item in an area will probably find that the maps alone will suffice in helping you navigate through much of the game without actually reading much of the walkthrough.

The walkthrough also points out any time you meet new characters. It's got some good organization and a great layout in many respects. They always point out collectibles as you meander through the world at hand. Often times not just putting it in the main text of the walkthrough but actually having callouts. They also highlight any new tutorials, enemies and items that pop up at any given time. It's a really in depth walkthrough that helps get you through the game. It's also complete with tons of screenshots to illustrate a lot of things. It's unusual to see a Bradygames guide this well organized. There is a lot of text, though, so you may spend a lot of time reading some parts rather than being engrossed in the game.

The guide isn't without it's faults. For instance, while I like that Bradygames played through hard mode, I still feel that for those who want to tackle higher difficulty settings the guide simply won't help them. Survivor is a totally different beast from the other difficulty settings and Bradygames does nothing to really help the player prepare. As is standard: They mention how you do less damage and how enemies do more... but there are some really important things they're missing out on by not having some kind of addendum for Survivor. There are fewer items. Meaning that items shown on the map might not necessarily be there on Survivor. Since the maps correspond to Hard Mode this means that when playing survivor it's pointing out items that may not be there. Likewise, this also means that there are MORE items in an area on Normal and Easy that the maps aren't pointing out either. It's a good walkthrough and has some good strategies and maps, but Bradygames still isn't willing to go that extra mile that could help a player master the game as opposed to just learning as much of it as they can.

All this amounts to a great strategy guide in the long run. Anyone playing on Hard difficulty or lower will find a lot of use in its maps. For those playing on Survivor (and if you are you probably know the game anyway) there isn't much the guide will do to help you prepare for that.

There is one other problem with the walkthrough. The information is sound. The strategies are awesome, the guidance is good and those maps are probably the most valuable resource the guide has. However, the walkthrough is very forward and direct that it WILL spoil major plot points. It doesn't just detail what to do in an area, but also what will happen to you after you've done it. This means for those hoping to avoid spoilers the guide has plenty of them and they won't be highlighted as spoilers. The Last of Us is quite an engrossing game. The story is really good and many a gamer probably shouldn't have it spoiled for them. The walkthrough leaves no stone unturned, this includes any twists in the story and plot. Don't take this to mean the guide isn't good. It's a very good guide. One that will help you uncover everything The Last of Us has to offer, it's just not shy about telling you what's going to happen. As such I recommend it for a second playthrough. It will help you find everything and for those who want to find everything it's going to do just that. But the guide is also going to make sure you KNOW everything about the story as well. If you're the type who doesn't like spoilers, save the guide for a second playthrough.

However, even if you only wanted the guide to find all the collectibles, the guide did make sure to include a separate chapter in case you didn't want to go searching through the walkthrough. It's very well organized and shows you everything without giving away anything to the plot. For those who also want to know, there is also a Tags and Trophy guide in the event that you just want to know those things as well, complete with strategies and commentary. Meaning that even with spoilers, those who want to find everything can still do so without fear of the experience being ruined. The guide is good for a quick reference as well as those looking for more in depth descriptions.

The guide also has a huge section dedicated to talking about the various factions you'll see as well. It provides much of the same info as the walkthrough itself. It treats Factions as though it is a separate game, going over the basics all over again. But everything that's great about the walkthrough is still really good here.

For those wondering, there's not much difference in picking up the Limited Edition Guide or the Standard Edition. The Content in both guides is exactly the same. Both guides are the same length. There are only two distinct differences. The Limited Edition guide comes with a Firefly Keychain and is in hardcover. That's the only difference. Three's no "extra content," in the Limited Edition Guide. And you won't find anything in the Limited Edition guide that you won't find in the standard. It just has a hardcover and keychain.

The Last of Us is a pretty amazing game on its own, so it's nice to see that it also has a relatively amazing strategy guide to go with it. It leaves no stone unturned and often provides all the information you need to go through any one area. For those hoping to find everything The Last of Us has to offer, this is a good strategy guide to help you out.

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I order guides for many of my video games. As a guide, this one is good but not great. My beef with these Prima guides is layout. They want them to be colorful and graphically interesting, I guess, but when you're trying to follow them as you play, it's hard to figure out the trail. You can't just read top to bottom, like normal English standard books. Some pages have a column like layout so you have to read top to bottom on left, then top to botton on right. But this is not consistent. Really, if they're going to meander like that, use some kind of bullet display. They will also put a collectible location at the end of the section, not in the middle of the episode where you actually can find it. I'm guessing they do that because they wanted to make a colorful, graphically impactful display. But not useful.

I got The Last of Us from a digital download right after midnight on release day. So I had the game 2 days before I had the guide. I'm glad I did because I just started playing. This game is too good to spoil, so I advise anyone to play the game first, blindly. Yes, you'll miss a lot but the tension, the surprise, the discovery--all better when you don't know. I'm on second playthrough now, using this guide.

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Guide gives you nice maps, no spoilers, and decent general direction to get to the next level or area. Nice piece of backup gear for trouble spots.

The game should be game of the year. This is what vid games should be. The Last of US is basically a better version of Uncharted. Hey, Uncharted is pretty darn good, I know, I know. This is more plotful, better dialogue, both done by Naughty Dog Studios, way scarier, more intense but not necessarily more difficult, and the scenes of apocalypse are far more interesting.

Back to the guide again, the game is more fun figuring out where to go on your own. Only one spot so far helped out with some murky directional points. Some of the map areas would help you get through some zones nearly instantly. You could just run to the exit point with as little resistance as possible, but the battle is the fun. The game requires patience with sneaking skills as well as battle tactics.

I bought this guide because I thought it was the guide for I'm Alive(excellent too), but then realized I got the wrong book. Instead of returning the book, I got the game, and wow, good move. If you like Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Silent Hill, and Rez Evil games, this game combines all the best of these, seriously. Try it!!

This guide's pretty bare-bones, and it lacks advanced strategies for many tough sections beyond "there are enemies here, take 'em out", but it shows you where all the collectibles are, and that's mainly why I bought it, so it does it's job. Once you have the collectibles, though, the guide's useless, as it fails to go into advanced strategies for the single-player game. I should also mention that it doesn't identify which sections are forced combat "monster-closet" sort of areas, and which can be bypassed with stealth. A glaring omission, in my opinion.

I didn't bother with the multiplayer section of the game or the guide, so I can't comment on the accuracy/quality of that section of the guide.

Unless you have extra money to spend, you're better off with GameFAQs or YouTube.

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I agree with the previous comment. There is a lot of information in this guide that is really helpful. You will definitely be able to find every collectible due to the detail on where they are located, plus some really nice maps. However, the plot of the game should be experienced not read about prior to playing. Since the callout boxes on collectibles are not close to appropriate information on how to get through the game (they're listed after several steps past where u need to look for these collectibles) you have to read several pages beforehand so you know when to stop and look for these items. This spoils the plot of the game and since the game is auto save, unless you know ahead of time where to look or you remember to save in a different save game slot every so often, you pass a certain point and you'll miss it for that play through. Also, the optional conversations are listed in the back but only a few were pointed out in the walk through. And since these conversations only appear if u meet certain conditions and for some you have to hurry to initiate the conversation before the opportunity passes since the AI characters don't always wait while you explore, there's a chance of missing these as well.